Theodore John Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, was an American mathematician and domestic terrorist.
Thanks, Wikipedia.
Dude got tired of maths, moved to a cabin in the woods to live by himself. Part of the woods he lived in was destroyed by loggers and road builders. He got mad and started a bombing campaign against people who he views destroy nature.
He also went full reactionary sexist and homophobe. Plus bombed random people like a guy selling computers.
I really dislike the way he’s venerated by some. There are actual revolutionaries with cohesive ideologies that properly critique society and direct anger at systemic problems. This guy was just mad things were changing.
He definitely had some problematic opinions. Namely he thought that modern feminist and gay rights type movements were distracting from bigger problems. Though he did actually get that ideological idea from Marx who theorised that the owner class distracts the worker class with disputes over social rights of marginalised peoples to distract from the bigger problem in society (which marx viewed as the owner classes monopoly on ownership of means of production, while Kaczynski viewed it as techno-industrial society which removes people far from their natural behaviour (self reliance and sustenance) and destroys the nature which makes it possible.)
Not sure that qualifies him as a “full on reactionary” though. And I’m not sure I agree with your dismissal of his writings as “just mad things were changing”. They’re quite thorough and rigorous. He spent a couple decades writing multiple theoretical works to back up his views. We had an entire class on them at the masters level in social theory.
He did a bunch of math and some other stuff.
We had to read his manifesto for a polisci class.
Uncomfortably prescient in many ways, esp. related to technology… But also still full of wingnut BS about other stuff. Worth a read, though, if you’re bored
How does one get access to said manifesto without immediately being put on an FBI watch list?
You’re on a list for asking that. Hell, you were probably already on a list for using a non-mainstream social media.
There’s a lot of fucking lists, they’re really more for adding on more crimes if you’re ever arrested/charged with something rather than active surveillance if you ask me.
He continued writing and publishing until at least as recently as the second edition of Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How in 2020 and the most recent edition of Technological Slavery in 2022–he committed suicide after stopping cancer treatments in 2023. His books have actually received some positive academic reviews. I haven’t read them, but I’ve read the reviews.
I’ve read most of his collections of letters and books and they are decent. I don’t like the ways he critiques leftism (but hey I’m a leftist so that’s to be expected). Apart from that, he has some interesting theories.
Also the cancer suicide makes more sense when you realise his father did the exact same thing.
I loved him and Jenna Fischer on the office. Their relationship really blew up!
From his Wikipedia page
In 2012, Kaczynski responded to the Harvard Alumni Association’s directory inquiry for the fiftieth reunion of the class of 1962; he listed his occupation as “prisoner” and eight life sentences as “awards”.
lol
